The 2017 PokerStars Championship Prague wrapped up yesterday, and it seems as though the poker world took a small break to get ready for the winter holidays. Kalidou Sow has already a reason to celebrate after he became PokerStars’ latest six-digit winner in the Main Event. The player edged out an 855-strong field to secure the title and take home the €675,000 first-place prize. It is the biggest cash of Sow’s live poker career. Sow admittedly had quite a run, gaining the upper hand over the last 5 players.
The Main Event kicked off on 12th December in style. The 855 entrants, who eagerly paid the buy-in fee of €5,300, generated a larger-than-life €4,146,750 prize pool. Even though Sow is mostly a recreational player, he has an extensive career portfolio. His bankroll amount to $1,197,403 in total live earnings thus far. However, winning one of the most prestigious poker event in the Czech Republic is no more a pipe dream for the player. In a post-victory interview, the winner told the reporters that this is his biggest accomplishment so far.
Cards in the Air
The first to leave the nine-handed final table was Alexander Mordvinov from Russia. The player found €57,500 prize money at the end of this poker venture. By the time the field was trimmed to just 6 players, the clock announced the end of the day and the players retreated for the night. By that moment, Sow already managed to grab the chip lead, leading his eventual heads-up opponent Jason Wheeler by a very narrow margin. In fact, Sow emerged from the bottom of the chip counts to lead a pack of 6 to the final day of the event. The recently-crowned Frenchman stole the chip lead away from Michal Mrakes, who eventually hit the rail in 3rd place, banking the €332,000 payday.
The heads-up deal between Sow and Jason Wheeler saw both players locking up €570,000. However, the two players locked horns to determine the name of the winner, who was about to leave the tournament with the last-for-the-year PokerStars title and the first-place prize. After a short war of words between the two players, the atmosphere heated a bit more. Sow did not lose his temper even for a second, being determined to leave with the trophy.
Hand #109 was the last hand played within the event’s final table. By the time the two players were locked in an all-in confrontation, Sow was holding [10h][10d] to collide with Wheeler’s [Ah][9s]. The [4s][Jc][7s][5h][Kh] landed on the board to secure the victory for Sow. Wheeler collected €570,000 for his runner-up finish.
